Portable track for hay-carriers or the like.



J. S. COX.

PORTABLE TRACK FOR HAY CARRIERS OR THE LIKE; APPLICATION {M0 OCT. 18,1915.

3. 1 7 7, 93 2 "Patented Apr. 4, 1916.

Even/0 76K?? 5 COX.

s'ra'r ilbHN .s. cox, or HOLTVILLE, caLrronuIA.

'rnAcK non 'l y com-em.- if 13c 1tIkno wn that 1 JOHN S. Ya f States.residing .at

Holtvi-ll'e, in the county of Imperial and useful Improvements in theirlower ends and State of California, have invented new and PortableTracks for 'Hay-Qarriers' or the-like, of which the following is aspecification, My invent on relates to an apparatus for stacking hay,grain, and the like, in. which thej' hay-unloading device is suspendedfrom a ,trolley whereby the hay is removed from the wagonand moved alongthe trolley support'and deposited on the stack.

My mvention relates in particular to an a trolley from which suspended.The uprights are pivoted at are provided with means for simultaneouslymoving the trolley cable so that-the same maybe swung in eitherdirection to occupy a position approximately parallel to its normalposition. It is an object of this invention to provide means simple inconstruction and positive in operation whereby the cable supports-ma beeasily and quickly swung .011

- their pivots intheir adjusted position and 1 30 firmly-locked therein.v Other objects of the invention will appear as the descriptionproceeds.

the combination invention consists in and arrangement of parts scribedand claimed.

In' the accompanying drawings which form a part of this specification, Ihave illustrated a convenient and practical enihereina-fter de-'bodiment of my invention. and in which: 40-

, apparatus. Fig.

Figure 1 is a perspective .view of my 2 is an end view thereof lookingfrom theleft. of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a detail view showing the windlassesupon which the cables operating the apparatus are wound. Fig. 4 is afront elevation of the apparatussl'iowlng the hay-stacker in opera wn-11, n dgsignate a pair Of vertical,

supports or uprights. referred to hereinafter as first and second u)rights, respectively, between whose. upper ends a trolley cable or rope12 is secured. The

lower end of each of said uprights is positioned in a metal shoe 13consisting of a base plate 14 suitably secured by means of spikes 15--15and having a pair of spaced Specification of LettersiPatent.

Application filed October 18, 1915. Serial No. 56,627.

HAY-CARRIERS on THE LIKE.

Patented Apr. 4, 1916.

' vertical lugs .1616 adapted to-receive the a plane at right angles tothe trolley cable 412. G iyropes 19 i I 19 are connected to the tops 0the uprights and lead therefrom obliquely downward to the groun'd. Theupright 10 is more subject to a twisting movement than upright 11 andfor this reason the upper end of the guy rope 19 connected thereto isfastened at its upper end to the transverse member of a U-shaped link 20which is pivoted to oppositelv disposed lateral faces of the upper endof the upright 10. he lower ends of the guy ropes are sccurelv fastenedto stakes :20--20 which are located 111 a straight line passing through.the lower ends of'the uprights 10 and 11. It is obvious from thisconstruction that the uprights may be swung either to the right or left.the distance from the top of the upright to the stake 20 remaining thesame. The

following means are provided for'eli'ecting to the ground and over apulley 21 suitably fastened to a stake 22 in front of said upright;thence horizontally on the ground to a pulley 23 fastened to a suitablestake 2i in the rear of said upright. Thence the cable passes in,adirection parallel to the trolley cable to and over a pulley 25 fastenedto a stake 26 in the rear of the second upright 10 thence tothe top ofthe latter where it is fastened. A cable I) is fastened to the top ofthe first upright 11 and leads over a pulley f1, secured to the stake24;, thence to and overa pulley e52 fastened to the stake 26, thence toa winding druin 27 located inan aperture 28 in the upright 10. The shaft:27 of said drum is suitably journaled in lugs -29-29 extending from apair of lateral plates 31-37 secured to the sides of the upright 10, andis provided with a crank handle 29 and a pawl 30 whichengages theratchet teeth on said drum. The cable I) thence passes to and over apulley 31. thence to the top of the upright 10 to which it is secured.The pulley 31 is movable, and is connected to a cable (I passing over awhich is secured to a suitable stake 33 in small pulley 3'2 front ofsaid upright 10. The cable d passes over pulley 32 to an auxiliarywinding drum 3% mounted on the side of the upright 10. The shaft issuitably journaled in lugs 3( 3-36 extending from the plates 37--3T. Theshaft is operated by means of a crank handle 38. A pawl 39 engagesratchet teeth 10 at one end of the drum. the stakes 22 and 2a to whichpulleys 21 and 23, &1, respectively, are secured and are positioned inthe plane in which the first upright 11 swings in its pivotal movement.The stakes 23- and 26 to which pulleys 32 and 25, 42, respectively, aresecured, arepositioned in the plane in which the second upright 10swings in its pivotal movement. I have selected the length of thehorizontal section of cable extending on either side from the foot ofthe upright and the length of the two inclined sections leading to thetop of the upright so as to form a right-angled triangle whoselateralsides are of equal length; the right angle being at the apex. However,it is not necessary that the respective cable lengths be proportioned toform a right-angled triangle as described. However, it is essential thatthe cable sections constituting the lateral sides of the triangle bepositioned in the plane of the pivotal movement of the upright, so thatany pull exerted thereon in either section, will be in the same plane.

Operation: From the foregoing description, the operation of theapparatus will be easily understood. Assuming that the trolley cable hasbeen used in the position shown in Fig. 1 for building up the center ofthe hay-stack A, shown in Fig. 4, and it is desired to stack hay on theother side that is, toward the left, looking from the end shown in Fig.2-the main winding drum 2? is rotated by means of the handle 29 in acontrary clock-wise direction causing the cable Z) to pass in adirection from the top of the upright 11 over pulleys 11, 42 and 31 tothe .top of the upright 10. The uprights will swing toward the left andoccupy the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1. lVhen the uprightsoccupy this position, or any other position except the vertical uprightone shown in full lines in Fig. 1, t-here will be more or less slack inthe cables a and 72, proportionate to the degree of declination of theuprights from the perpendlcular. The reason for this slackness in thecables and Z) will be easily understood from a It should be noted thatas shown, in dotted lines in Fig. 2. It is not necessary to prove thisproposition as it is well known that the sum of the sides of aright-angled triangle has a maximum value when a perpendicular, droppedfrom said right angle .to the hypotenuse, meets the middle pointthereof. This condition is fulfilled when the uprights are in theirvertical position. Any other position of the uprights will cause the sumof the sides a and b to be less. Means must therefore be provided fortaking up the slack in the cables a and b so that the uprights will befirmly held in adjusted position as they are swung on their pivots. Themeans'referred so to is the auxiliary drum 34 upon which the cable d iswound. By winding up the cable (Z on drum 84, the pulley 31 is movedtoward the pulley 32 thereby increasing the" length of the side a andalso the distance between the pulleys 31 and 4:2. The upright 10 will beswung upward toward the vertical position to a slight degree to take upthe slack in the cable a which is due to the changed shape of the cabletriangle about the upright 11 for the reasons explained in connectionwith the cable triangle formed about the upright 10. i

For the reasons above explained, the sum of the sides of theright-angled trianglein which the upright 11 is located, will be lesswhen the upright 11 occupies the inclined position .indicated by dottedlines in Fig. 1.: Thereforethe upright 10 will be inclined from theperpendicular at-a' smaller angle than the support 11. For all practicalpurposes, however, this difference in inclination is immaterial and doesnot affect the operation or utility of the apparatus in the least. 1After the hay-stack has been built up vertically below the trolley line,indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 1, the supports maybe inclined stillmore toward the left by operating the drums 27 and 34: as justdescribed. If it is desired to build up the stack on the right sidethereof, the uprights will be swung in that direction as will beunderstood.

lVhile I have shown the preferred form of my apparatus as now known tome. it will be understood that I do not confine m vself to the specificconstruction and arrangement as described.

Various changes will suggest themselves to those skilled in the artwithout departing from the spirit of my invention as claimed.

I claim: 1. In a portable track for hay carriers or the like. thecombination of a first upright and a second upright spaced from eachother and pivoted at their lower ends. a trolley cable connecting theirupper ends. guy ropes leading from the upper ends of said uprights topoints constituting the ends of a straight line passing through thepivots of thereof, a second cable having its ends secure-d to the topsof said upright, leading rights in a plane and a second .ble connectingtheir upper nirzeaa said uprights whereby the same may be swung on'theirpivots in planes at right angles to said trolley cable, a main windingdrum, an auxiliary winding drum, said ,drums being mounted on saidsecond up operating means, a caright, separate drum ble having its endssecured to the top of said uprights and leading in front thereof, thencein a horizontal direction to a point in the rear thereof, thencehorizontally-to a-point in the rear of the sec- 0nd upright, thenceobliquely to the top from the top of said first upright obliquelydownward to a point in the reanthereof. thence horizontally to a pointin the rear of said second upright, thence around said main windingdrum, thence over a. movable pulley, thence obliquely upward to the topof said second upright,'and a third cable operatively connected to, saidauxiliary drum leading to apoint infront of said second upright andsecured to said. movable pulley. all of said points around which saidcables pass being located approximately in the planes of the pivotalmovement of said upright-s. I I

'2. In a portable track for hay carriers or the like. the combination ofaiirst upright v upright spaced fronreach other and pivoted at theirlower the top thereof. a second cable having its ends secured to thetops oi? saiduprights and leading from said first upright obliquelydownward to a point in the rear thereof. thence horizontally to a pointin the rear of said second upright, thence around said main windingdrum, thence over a movable. pulley. thence obliquely upward to the topof said first upright. and a third cable operatively connected to saidauxiliary drum leading to a point in front of said second upright andsecured to said movablepulley, all of said points around which saidcables pass being located approximately in the planes of the pivotalmovement of said uprights. I

3. In a portable track for hay carriers or the like. the combination oia first upright and a second upright spaced from each other. a trolleycable connecting their upper iirom the top of saidfirst uprightobliquely downward to a point right angles to said trolley cable,connection leading from the top of in front thereof, thence to drumoperatfirst upright obliquely downward second upright. thence to eachother, a trolley ends, said uprights being pivoted-at their lower endsfor movement in a plane at right angles to said trolley cable, .a mainwinding I drum, for operating said drums, a flexible connection hav 1ngits ends secured tothetops of said uprights and leading to a point infront.

thereof, thence to a point in the rear thereof, thence to a point in therearof said sec ond upright, thence to the top thereof, a

an auxrliary winding drum, means second connection being secured to thetops of said uprights and leading, to a point in the rear thereof,thence to a point in the rear of said second upright, thence around,-

said main winding drum, thence over a movable pulley, thence to the-topofsaid sec- 0nd upright, and a third flexible connection operativelyconnected to said auxiliary drum leading to a point in frontof saidsecond upright and secured to said movable pulley,

all of said points around which said connections pass being locatedapproximately in the planes of the pivotal'movement of said uprights. V

4, In a portable track for hay carriers or the like, thecombination of afirst uprightand asecond upright spaced from each other, a trolley cableconnecting their upper ends, all of at their lower ends a flexible saidfirst upright to a point a point in the rear thereof, thence to a pointin the rear of the second upright, thence to the top thereof, a secondflexible connection leading from the top of the first uprightto a pointin the rear thereof, thence to a omt in the rear of the second, upright,tlence over a movable pulley, thenceto the top of said uprights beingpivoted v to swing i'n-a plane atsaid second upright, means interposedin p the path of said second connection for moving the latter in eitherdirection and locking the same, and a third flexible connectionleading-to a point in front of said second upright and secured to saidmovable pulley,

means for moving said third connection in either-direction and lockingthe same in position, all of said points around which said flexibleconnections pass being located approximately .in the planes of thepivotal.

movement of said uprights.

5. In a portable track for hay carriers or the like, the combination ofa first 'up rightand a second upright spacedffrom their upper ends. eachof angles to said trolley sup port, a flexible connection leading fromthe upper part of the first upright to-a point support connecting saiduprights be-- ing pivoted at its lower end to swing in a plane at frightupright to a point in the rear thereof, thence to a movable pulley infront of said second upright, thence to the upper part of said secondupright, means for moving said second connection in either direction ofits path, a third flexible connection leading to said movable pulley,all of said points around which said connections pass being locatedapproximately in the planes of the pivotal movement of said uprights,and means for moving said third flexlible connection in either directionof its pat 1.

6. In a portable track for hay carriers or the like, the combination: ofa first and a second upright, a trolley track connected to their upperends, said uprights being pivoted to swing in planes transversely, tosaid track, a flexible connection having its ends securedto the upperends of said uprights, a second flexible connection having its endssecured to the upper ends of said uprights, means for moving saidconnections for swinging said uprights on their pivots, and means fortaking up the slack in said connection.

7. In a portable track for hay carriersor the like, the combination of afirst upright and a second upright spaced from each other, a trolleytrackconnecting their upper ends, each of said uprights being pivoted atits lower end to swing in a plane at right angles to said trolley track,a flexible connection having its end secured to the upper ends of saiduprights, a second flexible ,connection having its ends secured to theupper ends of said uprights, means for moving said second connection ineither direction of its path, a third flexible connection for taking upthe slack in said two first named connections, and means for moving saidthird connection in either direction of its path.

8. In a portable track for hay carriers or the like, the combination ofa first and second upright, a trolley-track connected to their upperends, said uprights being pivoted to swing in planes transversely tosaid track, a flexible connection having its ends secured to the upperends of said uprights, a second flexible connection having its ends.secured to the upper ends of said uprights and means operativelyconnected to one of said connections for swinging said uprights on theirpivots in the same direction. I

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

JOHN S. COX.

